Plan for backups on I-5 southbound tonight

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, April 10, 2008

EVERETT — Drivers could face backups heading south out of Everett tonight as state crews start closing down lanes to grind off old asphalt and restripe.

Crews plan tonight to start restriping the freeway to open a new carpool lane from U.S. 2 to the Lowell bridge. The work is expected to wrap up by Monday morning if the weather permits.

The work is set to begin after 7 p.m. when the heaviest of the traffic is already over.

About 170,000 vehicles on average use the freeway through Everett every day, according to state officials.

“The good thing is that it does increase capacity in this congested section,” said Mike Cotten, the I-5 widening project manager for the state Department of Transportation.

The segment of the new carpool lane is now ready to open because crews have finished replacing a damaged girder that supports southbound I-5 over Pacific Avenue. The work required the state to shut down a middle lane to create an island of construction zone in March. Drivers have been maneuvering around the work zone; traffic has been running smoothly.

Some drivers wanted the traffic split to stay in place, but the work zone is ready to be removed this weekend, Cotten said.

Once that happens, speed limits in the area will go up to 60 mph from 50 mph, said Patty Michaud, a spokeswoman for the transportation department.

Down the road, though, drivers may need to slow down, Michaud said. Crews are set to start grinding down the freeway’s surface between Broadway and the Lowell bridge. That will keep the surface bumpy during the next two weeks until the final layer of asphalt gets installed. Crews plan to put down the final striping over the asphalt later.

“If they don’t feel comfortable driving at 60, they need to slow down,” Michaud said.

The I-5 widening project that started in 2005 is in its homestretch. Earlier this year, the state opened a new southbound carpool lane between the Lowell bridge and Highway 526, which is known as the Boeing Freeway. The state is expected to open the last segment of the new southbound carpool lane between Marine View Drive and U.S. 2. A new northbound carpool lane is set to open by the end of this month between Highway 526 and U.S. 2.

In addition, a new southbound lane that carries traffic from U.S. 2 to the 41st Street interchange is set to be extended to Broadway soon, state officials said.

The entire widening project is set to wrap up this summer. The $263 million project, funded by a 2003 nickel-per-gallon gas-tax hike, is the third most expensive highway project in the state’s history, according to state officials.

The unpredictable weather has prevented crews from tackling some projects. They have waited for dry weather to grind out new asphalt on I-5 ramps. Michaud said that if the weather permits, the state plans to do the work on two ramps this weekend: the northbound off-ramp to U.S. 2 and the southbound on-ramp from Pacific Avenue.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.